Psalm 12 – An Alternative Version
Help, LORD, for the godly are no more;
the faithful have vanished from among men.
Everyone fools himself;
their flattering minds think with deception.
May the LORD confound all flattering minds
and every boastful thought
that says, “We will triumph with our thoughts,
we own our minds – who is our master?”
“Because of the oppression of the gullible
and the groaning of the seekers of truth,
I will now arise,” says the LORD.
“I will protect them from those who malign them”
And the knowledge of the LORD is perfect,
like a united theory of systems,
governing all laws.
O LORD, you will keep us safe
and protect us from such foolishness forever,
While the proud freely strut about
when what is false is honoured among men.
When I read the actual psalm, which was about the deceptive lips and false words of men, I found myself empathising with it, though from a slightly different (but I think equally compatible) perspective, that is, in relation to the narrow and self-justifying thoughts, and proud Rationalistic minds of people these days.
I have followed the original, almost sentence for sentence, with a several slight alterations to suit my emphasis. The overall structure still remains, ie: Divided into four couplets: (1) Initial appeal, with cause of distress; (2) The prayer; (3) The reassurance of the Lord; (4) Concluding confidence.
The concern I’ve illustrated is not just about the foolishness/pride in others, but in myself also. I’ve already found myself confounded in my speculating, and I’ll continue to pray that I do when it is necessary. I certainly have a strange, but deep, sense of hope that God will fix the situation.
(Disclaimer: This is merely my artistic interpretation of Psalm 12… In no way do I suggest it as an actual alteration to the original)
the faithful have vanished from among men.
Everyone fools himself;
their flattering minds think with deception.
May the LORD confound all flattering minds
and every boastful thought
that says, “We will triumph with our thoughts,
we own our minds – who is our master?”
“Because of the oppression of the gullible
and the groaning of the seekers of truth,
I will now arise,” says the LORD.
“I will protect them from those who malign them”
And the knowledge of the LORD is perfect,
like a united theory of systems,
governing all laws.
O LORD, you will keep us safe
and protect us from such foolishness forever,
While the proud freely strut about
when what is false is honoured among men.
When I read the actual psalm, which was about the deceptive lips and false words of men, I found myself empathising with it, though from a slightly different (but I think equally compatible) perspective, that is, in relation to the narrow and self-justifying thoughts, and proud Rationalistic minds of people these days.
I have followed the original, almost sentence for sentence, with a several slight alterations to suit my emphasis. The overall structure still remains, ie: Divided into four couplets: (1) Initial appeal, with cause of distress; (2) The prayer; (3) The reassurance of the Lord; (4) Concluding confidence.
The concern I’ve illustrated is not just about the foolishness/pride in others, but in myself also. I’ve already found myself confounded in my speculating, and I’ll continue to pray that I do when it is necessary. I certainly have a strange, but deep, sense of hope that God will fix the situation.
(Disclaimer: This is merely my artistic interpretation of Psalm 12… In no way do I suggest it as an actual alteration to the original)
posted by Matthew P | 1:32 AM
2 Comments:
Nice re-write :)
I've often thought about this, especially lately. There does seem to be an awfully large confidence in people's intellectual ability, which is great, but never actually goes beyond ourselves. That is, we talk about fixing the world and how it's "all about people" and then continue behaving the same way.
I wonder sometimes who is more foolish: people who know no better, and go about their daily lives, or intellectually aware people who say much, but do nothing?
Thanks :)
I think you’re quite right, there is certainly a foolishness when, in our talking and speculating, we never actually do much.
I also think there’s often a foolishness in our (over)-confidence as rational agents. Don’t get me wrong, I think its great that we critique the status quo and strive to rationally understand things, but I think that there is a tremendous folly in setting ourselves as the final objective authority on what is truth, which is what I mean by Rationalism. And it is a subtle error too, I often find myself subscribing to it, it is the reason for the great contradictions I have found my thought processes in, the “confounding of my mind” which, in my last few posts, I have attempted to express.
In answer to your (probably rhetorical) question: definitely the later. The comment I originally wrote concerning the whole intelligence vs. wisdom problem got a little too big, so I made a post of it instead. As well as compare wisdom with intelligence, I am careful to point out that foolishness is demonstrated both in our external actions (or lack thereof) and in our minds/hearts.
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